iXCOM-ROS2-driver - C++ Implementation -

ixcom_driver_lc is a ROS2 node developed in C++. It establishes a connection to an iNAT, activates ixcom logs, receives the data and publishes them using topics.

The default namespace used by the node is ixcom. To change this namespace, the top line of the configuration file must be modified:

/ixcom/ixcom_driver_lc:

becomes

/your_ns/ixcom_driver_lc:

A modified namespace can also be passed as argument to the launch file with namespace:=your_ns which must fit the namespace definition in the configuration file. Also, a different configuration file can be passed as argument with publisher_config_file:='/your/path/to/file.yml'. So, if multiple configuration files are available, multiple nodes can be launched using different namespaces and configuration files, which these namespaces are defined in, as arguments.

Example:

ros2 launch ixcom_driver_lc autostart.launch.py namespace:=your_ns

If no launch file is used, a subscriber must be launched with --ros-args -r __ns:=/your_ns as argument.

Example:

ros2 run your_node sub --ros-args -r __ns:=/your_ns

General Information

While running, the ixcom_driver_lc will appear in the ROS2 node list.

~$ ros2 node list
/ixcom/ixcom_driver_lc

The node info shows the implemented features (not configured topics are not visible in this view, see configuration section for details).

~$ ros2 node info /ixcom/ixcom_driver_lc
/ixcom/ixcom_driver_lc
  Publishers:
    /ixcom/Imu: sensor_msgs/msg/Imu
    /ixcom/MagneticField: sensor_msgs/msg/MagneticField
    /ixcom/NavSatFix_GNSS: sensor_msgs/msg/NavSatFix
    /ixcom/NavSatFix_INS: sensor_msgs/msg/NavSatFix
    /ixcom/NavSatStatus: sensor_msgs/msg/NavSatStatus
    /ixcom/Odometry: nav_msgs/msg/Odometry
    /ixcom/PoseWithCovarianceStamped: geometry_msgs/msg/PoseWithCovarianceStamped
    /ixcom/TimeReference: sensor_msgs/msg/TimeReference
    /ixcom/TwistStamped: geometry_msgs/msg/TwistStamped
    /ixcom/tf_static: tf2_msgs/msg/TFMessage
  Service Servers:
    /ixcom/ext_heading: ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidHdg
    /ixcom/ext_height: ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidHeight
    /ixcom/ext_position_ecef: ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidPosEcef
    /ixcom/ext_position_llh: ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidPosLlh
    /ixcom/ext_position_mgrs: ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidPosMgrs
    /ixcom/ext_position_utm: ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidPosUtm
    /ixcom/ext_velocity: ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidVel
    /ixcom/ext_velocity_body: ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidVelBody

    [...]

Build

git clone git@github.com:imar-navigation/ROS2_iNAT.git ixcom-ros2-driver
cd ixcom-ros2-driver
colcon build
or
colcon build --packages-select ixcom_driver_lc   (which builds only the specified packages, ixcom_driver_lc in this case)

Configuration

The ixcom_driver_lc configuration is located in src/ixcom_driver_lc/params/publisher_config.yml. If changes have been done in this file, the node has to be rebuilt since this file will be copied into the install directory where it will be used from. If the install directory already exists, the configuration file can be modified directly in the directory install/ixcom_driver_lc/share/ixcom_driver_lc/params/publisher_config.yml. NOTE: The configuration file in the install directory will be overwritten once a rebuild has been performed. The configuration file has currently the following structure.

/ixcom/ixcom_driver_lc:                 # used by ixcom_driver_lc in the namespace ixcom
# /**:                                  # one fits all
  ros__parameters:
    ip:
      address: 192.168.1.30
      port: 3000
    serial:
      ignore: true
      port: 1
      baud: 115200
      enable: true
    timestamp_mode: GPS
    imudata_mode: IMURAW
    qos: SYSTEMDEFAULTS
    leap_seconds: 18
    manual_local_tangential_plane:
      enable: false
      lon: 0.0
      lat: 0.0
      alt: 0.0
    magnetometer_scale_factor: 1.0000000116860974e-07
    topics:
      Imu:
        frequency_hz: 100
        remap_to: ""
      NavSatStatus:
        frequency_hz: 0
        remap_to: ""
      NavSatFix_GNSS:
        frequency_hz: 0
        remap_to: "NavSatFix"
      NavSatFix_INS:
        frequency_hz: 10
        remap_to: ""
      TimeReference:
        frequency_hz: 0
        remap_to: ""
      MagneticField:
        frequency_hz: 0
        remap_to: ""
      Odometry:
        frame_id: "enu"
        frequency_hz: 250
        remap_to: ""
      PoseWithCovarianceStamped:
        frequency_hz: 0
        remap_to: ""
      TwistStamped:
        frequency_hz: 0
        remap_to: ""

• The first line names the node (/ixcom_driver_lc) that uses this configuration and the namespace (/ixcom) this configuration is valid in.
• ip
  contains the connection data of an iNAT
• serial
  the serial interface of the connected iNAT can be configured with these data which can be skipped if ignore is set to true
• timestamp_mode
  contains the timestamp mode that can be the ROS System Time (value: ROS) or the iNAT GPS Time (value: GPS)
• imudata_mode
  this parameter defines the kind of inertial data (valid values: IMURAW (calibrated IMU data), IMUCORR (calibrated IMU data, additionally corrected for bias, scale factor and earth rate), IMUCOMP (Calibrated IMU data, corrected for bias and scale factor, additionally compensated for earth rate and gravity))
• qos
  quality of service configuration corresponding to the ROS2 QoS profiles (valid values: SYSTEMDEFAULTS, SENSORDATA, ACTIONSTATUS, PARAMETEREVENTS, PARAMETERS, SERVICES)
• leap_seconds
  set current leap seconds here if GNSS is not available or set to 0 otherwise
• topics
  activate topics using a value > 0 for frequency_hz and an optionally different topic name as a value for remap_to
• the frame_id of the topic Odometry is configurable

Run

• Change to the directory where the ixcom_driver_lc is located:

  cd ixcom-ros2-driver

• Source and Run Publisher:

  . install/setup.bash
  ros2 launch ixcom_driver_lc autostart.launch.py

• Run Subscriber (optional; this is just an example that shows some topic contents):

  ros2 run ixcom_driver sub

  ros2 run ixcom_driver sub -h
  usage: sub [-h] [-f] [-ns NAMESPACE]
  ROS2 iXCOM Driver
  options:
    -h, --help            show this help message and exit
    -f, --measure_frequency
                          measure frequencies of incoming topics
    -ns NAMESPACE, --namespace NAMESPACE
                          node namspace

Publishers

Publishers with the following topics using standard ROS2 messages are implemented:
/ixcom/Imu: sensor_msgs/msg/Imu
/ixcom/MagneticField: sensor_msgs/msg/MagneticField
/ixcom/NavSatFix_GNSS: sensor_msgs/msg/NavSatFix
/ixcom/NavSatFix_INS: sensor_msgs/msg/NavSatFix
/ixcom/NavSatStatus: sensor_msgs/msg/NavSatStatus
/ixcom/PoseWithCovarianceStamped geometry_msgs.msg/PoseWithCovarianceStamped
/ixcom/TwistStamped geometry_msgs.msg/TwistStamped
/ixcom/Odometry: nav_msgs/msg/Odometry
/ixcom/TimeReference: sensor_msgs/msg/TimeReference

Service Servers

The following Service Servers are implemented:
/ixcom/ext_heading: ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidHdg
/ixcom/ext_height: ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidHeight
/ixcom/ext_position_ecef: ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidPosEcef
/ixcom/ext_position_llh: ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidPosLlh
/ixcom/ext_position_mgrs: ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidPosMgrs
/ixcom/ext_position_utm: ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidPosUtm
/ixcom/ext_velocity: ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidVel
/ixcom/ext_velocity_body: ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidVelBody

• The interface of the Service Server /ixcom/ext_heading:

  ~$ ros2 interface show ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidHdg  

  float64 time_stamp  
  uint16 time_mode  
  float64 heading  
  float64 heading_stddev  
  - - -  
  bool success

  time_stamp : Time at which the measurement was valid in s
  time_mode : Timestamp mode: 0 = Absolute GPS timestamp OR 1 = Latency
  heading : Heading in rad
  heading_stddev : Heading standard deviation in rad

  The following command can be used to send a request to this Service Server (NOTE: uses default values):

  ~$ ros2 service call /ixcom/ext_heading ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidHdg

  requester: making request: ixcom_interfaces.srv.ExtAidHdg_Request(time_stamp=0.0, time_mode=0, heading=0.0, heading_stddev=0.0)  
  
  response:  
  ixcom_interfaces.srv.ExtAidHdg_Response(success=False)

• The interface of the Service Server /ixcom/ext_height:

  ~$ ros2 interface show ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidHeight  

  float64 time_stamp
  uint16 time_mode
  float64 height
  float64 height_stddev
  - - -
  bool success

  time_stamp : Time at which the measurement was valid in s
  time_mode : Timestamp mode: 0 = Absolute GPS timestamp OR 1 = Latency
  height : Height in m
  height_stddev : Height standard deviation in m

  The following command can be used to send a request to this Service Server (NOTE: uses default values):

  ~$ ros2 service call /ixcom/ext_height ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidHeight

  requester: making request: ixcom_interfaces.srv.ExtAidHeight_Request(time_stamp=0.0, time_mode=0, height=0.0, height_stddev=0.0)
  
  response:  
  ixcom_interfaces.srv.ExtAidHeight_Response(success=False)

• The interface of the Service Server /ixcom/ext_position_ecef:

  ~$ ros2 interface show ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidPosEcef  

  float64 time_stamp
  uint16 time_mode
  float64[3] position
  float64[3] position_stddev
  float64[3] lever_arm
  float64[3] lever_arm_stddev
  - - -
  bool success

  time_stamp : Time at which the measurement was valid in s
  time_mode : Timestamp mode: 0 = Absolute GPS timestamp OR 1 = Latency
  position : Position in ECEF frame in m
  position_stddev : Standard deviation of the position in m
  lever_arm : Lever arm in x,y,z direction in m
  lever_arm_stddev : Lever arm standard deviation in x,y,z direction in m

  The following command can be used to send a request to this Service Server (NOTE: uses default values):

  ~$ ros2 service call /ixcom/ext_position_ecef ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidPosEcef

  requester: making request: ixcom_interfaces.srv.ExtAidPosEcef_Request(time_stamp=0.0, time_mode=0, position=array([0., 0., 0.]), position_stddev=array([0., 0., 0.]), lever_arm=array([0., 0., 0.]), lever_arm_stddev=array([0., 0., 0.]))
  
  response:  
  ixcom_interfaces.srv.ExtAidPosEcef_Response(success=False)

• The interface of the Service Server /ixcom/ext_position_llh:

  ~$ ros2 interface show ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidPosLlh  

  float64 time_stamp
  uint16 time_mode
  float64[3] position
  float64[3] position_stddev
  float64[3] lever_arm
  float64[3] lever_arm_stddev
  uint32 enable_msl_altitude
  - - -
  bool success

  time_stamp : Time at which the measurement was valid in s
  time_mode : Timestamp mode: 0 = Absolute GPS timestamp OR 1 = Latency
  position : Longitude, latitude, altitude in rad and m
  position_stddev : Standard deviation in m (longitude, latitude, altitude)
  lever_arm : Lever arm in m
  lever_arm_stddev : Lever arm standard deviation in m

  The following command can be used to send a request to this Service Server (NOTE: uses default values):

  ~$ ros2 service call /ixcom/ext_position_llh ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidPosLlh

  requester: making request: ixcom_interfaces.srv.ExtAidPosLlh_Request(time_stamp=0.0, time_mode=0, position=array([0., 0., 0.]), position_stddev=array([0., 0., 0.]), lever_arm=array([0., 0., 0.]), lever_arm_stddev=array([0., 0., 0.]), enable_msl_altitude=0)
  
  response:  
  ixcom_interfaces.srv.ExtAidPosLlh_Response(success=False)

• The interface of the Service Server /ixcom/ext_position_mgrs:

  ~$ ros2 interface show ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidPosMgrs  

  float64 time_stamp
  uint16 time_mode
  string mgrs
  float64 altitude
  float64[3] position_stddev
  float64[3] lever_arm
  float64[3] lever_arm_stddev
  - - -
  bool success

  time_stamp : Time at which the measurement was valid in s
  time_mode : Timestamp mode: 0 = Absolute GPS timestamp OR 1 = Latency
  mgrs : MGRS string (e.g. 32U LV 66136 59531)
  altitude : Altitude in m
  position_stddev : Position standard deviation in m (easting, northing, altitude)
  lever_arm : Lever arm in x,y,z direction m
  lever_arm_stddev : Lever arm standard deviation in x,y,z direction in m

  The following command can be used to send a request to this Service Server (NOTE: uses default values):

  ~$ ros2 service call /ixcom/ext_position_mgrs ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidPosMgrs

  requester: making request: ixcom_interfaces.srv.ExtAidPosMgrs_Request(time_stamp=0.0, time_mode=0, mgrs='', altitude=0.0, position_stddev=array([0., 0., 0.]), lever_arm=array([0., 0., 0.]), lever_arm_stddev=array([0., 0., 0.]))
  
  response:  
  ixcom_interfaces.srv.ExtAidPosMgrs_Response(success=False)

• The interface of the Service Server /ixcom/ext_position_utm:

  ~$ ros2 interface show ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidPosUtm  

  float64 time_stamp
  uint16 time_mode
  uint32 zone
  uint8 north_hp
  float64 easting
  float64 northing
  float64 altitude
  float64[3] position_stddev
  float64[3] lever_arm
  float64[3] lever_arm_stddev
  - - -
  bool success

  time_stamp : Time at which the measurement was valid in s
  time_mode : Timestamp mode: 0 = Absolute GPS timestamp OR 1 = Latency
  zone : UTM zone (0 = UPS)
  north_hp : Hemisphere (true = north, false = south)
  easting : East component in m
  northing : North component in m
  altitude : Altitude in m
  position_stddev : Position standard deviation in m (easting, northing, altitude)
  lever_arm : Lever arm in x,y,z direction m
  lever_arm_stddev : Lever arm standard deviation in x,y,z direction in m

  The following command can be used to send a request to this Service Server (NOTE: uses default values):

  ~$ ros2 service call /ixcom/ext_position_utm ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidPosUtm

  requester: making request: ixcom_interfaces.srv.ExtAidPosUtm_Request(time_stamp=0.0, time_mode=0, zone=0, north_hp=0, easting=0.0, northing=0.0, altitude=0.0, position_stddev=array([0., 0., 0.]), lever_arm=array([0., 0., 0.]), lever_arm_stddev=array([0., 0., 0.]))
  
  response:  
  ixcom_interfaces.srv.ExtAidPosUtm_Response(success=False)

• The interface of the Service Server /ixcom/ext_velocity:

  ~$ ros2 interface show ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidVel  

  float64 time_stamp
  uint16 time_mode
  float64[3] velocity
  float64[3] velocity_stddev
  - - -
  bool success

  time_stamp : Time at which the measurement was valid in s
  time_mode : Timestamp mode: 0 = Absolute GPS timestamp OR 1 = Latency
  velocity : Velocity east, north, down in m/s
  velocity_stddev : Velocity standard deviation in m/s

  The following command can be used to send a request to this Service Server (NOTE: uses default values):

  ~$ ros2 service call /ixcom/ext_velocity ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidVel

  requester: making request: ixcom_interfaces.srv.ExtAidVel_Request(time_stamp=0.0, time_mode=0, velocity=array([0., 0., 0.]), velocity_stddev=array([0., 0., 0.]))
  
  response:  
  ixcom_interfaces.srv.ExtAidVel_Response(success=False)

• The interface of the Service Server /ixcom/ext_velocity_body:

  ~$ ros2 interface show ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidVelBody  

  float64 time_stamp
  uint16 time_mode
  float64[3] velocity
  float64[3] velocity_stddev
  float64[3] lever_arm
  float64[3] lever_arm_stddev
  - - -
  bool success

  time_stamp : Time at which the measurement was valid in s
  time_mode : Timestamp mode: 0 = Absolute GPS timestamp OR 1 = Latency
  velocity : Velocity in body x,y,z direction in m/s
  velocity_stddev : Velocity standard deviation in m/s
  lever_arm : Lever arm in x,y,z direction m
  lever_arm_stddev : Lever arm standard deviation in x,y,z direction in m

  The following command can be used to send a request to this Service Server (NOTE: uses default values):

  ~$ ros2 service call /ixcom/ext_velocity_body ixcom_interfaces/srv/ExtAidVelBody

  requester: making request: ixcom_interfaces.srv.ExtAidVelBody_Request(time_stamp=0.0, time_mode=0, velocity=array([0., 0., 0.]), velocity_stddev=array([0., 0., 0.]), lever_arm=array([0., 0., 0.]), lever_arm_stddev=array([0., 0., 0.]))
  
  response:  
  ixcom_interfaces.srv.ExtAidVelBody_Response(success=False)

NOTE: The data sent to the node will be forwarded to the iNAT. The iNAT must send a response back to the node within a second. Otherwise, the requester receives success=False due to the timeout.

Service Adapter

The Service Adapter is a subscriber and service client. Start it as follows:

ros2 run ixcom_service_adapter sub --ros-args -r __ns:=/your_ns

If the Service Adapter receives topics that can be used for iNAT aiding, it puts the data into the service messages described above and sends it to the Service Server of the ixcom_driver_lc.

[INFO] [1764065010.163590451] [ixcom.ixcom_service_adapter]: Received TwistStampedMsg, calling ext_velocity service.

The ixcom_driver_lc sends the data to the iNAT and receives a feedback from it, whether the data are accepted or not. It also forwards that feedback to the Service Adapter.

[ixcom_driver_lc-1] [INFO] [1764065010.163932327] [ixcom.ixcom_driver_lc]: [ext_velocity] request received
[ixcom_driver_lc-1] [INFO] [1764065010.164969479] [ixcom.ixcom_driver_lc]: [ext_velocity] iNAT accepted the data

The Service Adapter receives the feedback.

[INFO] [1764065010.165315057] [ixcom.ixcom_service_adapter]: ext_velocity success: OK